Tip-cap for umbrella-ribs



(No Model.)

A. B. HUNT.

-TIP GAP FOR UMBRELLA RIBS.

No. 582,786. Patented Jan. 22, 1895.

WITNESSES: INVENTOH flz/iwizjamfl W KZ A TTOHNE Y8.

NITED STATES;

PATENT OFFICE.

ALFRED B. HUNT, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

TIP-CAP. FOR UMBRELLA-RIBS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 532,786, dated January 22, 1895.

I Application filed November 2, 1894. SerialNo. 627,723. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern/.- I

Be it known that I, ALFRED B. HUNT, of Brooklyn,in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Means for Attaching Umbrella-Oovers to Frames, of which the following is a specification.

My invention is an improvement in means for attaching a cover to umbrella frames, and pertains particularly to the construction of a cap, or sleeve, which is applied to the outer extremity, or tip, of each rib. Covers having such tip-caps attached to it, may be kept in stock in gents-furnishing and other stores, and sold to customers, and readily applied to old umbrella frames, when required.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a sectional view of a portion of an umbrella extended as when in use, the cover being secured to the ribs by my improved tip-cap. Figs. 2 and 2 show enlarged cross sections on lines 22 and 2, 2, respectively, of Fig. 1. Fig.3 is a perspective View of the tip-cap, enlarged to twice its normal size. Fig. 4 is a plan view of the blank from which the tip-cap is made. I

The umbrella frame is composed of a stick, a, ribs, 1), and stretchers, c, constructed and arranged in the usual way. The cover, at, is also constructed in the usual manner, and held on the stick, a, by a removable rubber cap, 6, which fits closely and excludes Water.

My improved sleeve, or tip-cap, A, is constructed and secured to the rib tips, I), and cover, (I, as hereinafter described.

The tip-cap,A, is made from a blank of elastic sheet metal, the form of which is shown in Fig. 4., it being cut out and pressed into the required shape chiefly by means of suitable dies. The cap (see Fig. 3) has an elongated slotted cylindrical body, 1, and a spherical, or bulbous, head 2. The open. but narrow slot, 3, extends lengthwise from the inner or open end of the body, 1, to the spherical end or head, 2, through which it is continued as a slit, or closed slot, 3, as shown-that is to say, the slot, 3, is open except at the bulbous end of the cap, where it continues as aclosed slit, 3 by means of the lateral or folded sides of the blank being brought together as shown. Thus, there are formed two, long, side wings, or flanges, 4, extending the entire length of the cap, A; and, the latter beingmade of spring metal, these wings, or flanges, are adapted to be compressed, or brought nearer each other, throughout the length of the open slot, 3, and thus adapted to clasp an umbrella rib, while the spherical head is also adapted to expand independently, as it were, to receive and clasp rib tips of different sizes, and yet'allow the latter to be readily disengaged therefrom.

The slot, 3, in the body of the cap is made of suitable width to receive the eye, e, of an umbrella rib, Z), and the eye projects through the same as shown in Fig. 1. Thus the eye abuts the edges of the wings, or flanges, 4, and prevents the cap turning or rotating on the rib tip. The tip-cap is provided with a lateral, perforated ear, 5, to facilitate attachment of the cover, (1, thereto. The attachment is made by drawing the edge of the cover tightly around the body, 1, and then sewing with a strong thread through the meeting edges'of the fabric and through the ear, 5, the thread being likewise drawn tightly around the fabric and body of the cap, so that the opposite flanges, 4, of the latter are pressed inward and brought together, or at least brought nearer each other, so that they are closed more or less.

The caps, A, are secured to the covers, d, before they are applied to umbrella frames, and the covers may be kept in stock and on sale in retail shops, &c., ready for expeditious application to the frames, as required by customers. Thus, one frame may be used for several covers, and the latter may be applied in a few minutes, without special or expert knowledge. The cap being made of spring metal and slit from end to end, readily adapts itself to ribs of different size.

What I claim is- The improved tip-cap for umbrella ribs, the same being made of elastic material and having a cylindrical body provided on the inner side with an open, lengthwise slot, and an en larged spherical head divided centrally, in continuation of such open slot, the opposing edges of the metal being in contact, thus forming a closed but elastic head, as shown and described for the purpose specified.

ALFRED B. HUNT. Witnesses: V

D. HINKSON, WM. A. BUCKNER. 

